duration

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Related to duration: Macaulay Duration, pregnancy duration

du·ra·tion

(do͝o-rā′shən, dyo͝o-)

1. Continuance or persistence in time.

2. A period of existence or persistence: sat quietly through the duration of the speech.

3. The number of years required to receive the present value of future payments, both of interest and principle, of a bond, often used as an indicator of a bond's price volatility resulting from changes in interest rates.

[Middle English duracioun, from Old French duration, from Medieval Latin dūrātiō, dūrātiōn-, from Latin dūrātus, past participle of dūrāre, to last; see deuə- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

duration

(djʊˈreɪʃən)

the length of time that something lasts or continues

[C14: from Medieval Latin dūrātiō, from Latin dūrāre to last]

duˈrational adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

du•ra•tion

(dʊˈreɪ ʃən, dyʊ-)

n.

1. the length of time something continues or exists.

2. continuance in time.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin dūrātiō; see durable, -tion]

du•ra`tion•al, adj.

Duration

(See also TIME.)

a coon’s age A long time; a blue moon; usually in the phrase in a coon’s age. This U.S. expression dates from 1843. Although its exact origin is not known, it may have derived from the raccoon’s habit of disappearing for long periods of sleep during the winter months when it would not be seen out for “ages.”

long haul An extended period of time; a great distance, especially one over which material is transported. This latter use probably gave rise to the former figurative one referring to time. In or over the long haul, both currently popular, suggest a broad, inclusive perspective, one that sees everything as part of an ongoing process.

a month of Sundays An unspecified but usually prolonged period of time; a seemingly endless interval of time. Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, was observed in the 19th century with the utmost dignity and decorum. All entertainment and frivolity were strictly taboo; thus the day seemed never ending. As used today this expression describes a period of time experienced as longer than it actually is because of tediousness or boredom.

I ain’t been out of this blessed hole … for a month of Sundays. (Rolf Bolderwood, Robbery Under Arms, 1888)

pissing-while A brief span of time; a few minutes. This obsolete expression, clearly derived from the short period of time required to urinate, appeared in Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona:

He had not been there a pissing-while, but all the chamber smelt him. (IV, iv)

till the cows come home For a long time, forever. This expression, dating from the 17th century, apparently first indicated shamefully late or early morning hours, as in this citation from Alexander Cooke’s Pope Joan (1610):

Drinking, eating, feasting, and revelling, till the cows come home, as the saying is.

A possible explanation as to the origin of the phrase is found in the English satirist Jonathan Swift’s literal use of it in Polite Conversation (1738), where it refers to a slugabed who did not get up until it was time for the cows to come home for the evening milking:

I warrant you lay abed till the cows come home.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	duration - the period of time during which something continues continuance period, period of time, time period - an amount of time; "a time period of 30 years"; "hastened the period of time of his recovery"; "Picasso's blue period" clocking - the time taken to traverse a measured course; "it was a world record clocking" longueur - a period of dullness or boredom (especially in a work of literature or performing art) residence time - the period of time spent in a particular place span - the complete duration of something; "the job was finished in the span of an hour" stint, stretch - an unbroken period of time during which you do something; "there were stretches of boredom"; "he did a stretch in the federal penitentiary" time scale - an arrangement of events used as a measure of duration; "on the geological time scale mankind has existed but for a brief moment" note value, time value, value - (music) the relative duration of a musical note rule - the duration of a monarch's or government's power; "during the rule of Elizabeth"
	2.	duration - the property of enduring or continuing in time continuance time - the continuum of experience in which events pass from the future through the present to the past
	3.	duration - continuance in time; "the ceremony was of short duration"; "he complained about the length of time required" length temporal property - a property relating to time longness - duration as an extension protraction, lengthiness, prolongation, continuation - the consequence of being lengthened in duration endlessness - the property of being (or seeming to be) without end shortness - the property of being of short temporal extent; "the shortness of air travel time" brevity, briefness, transience - the attribute of being brief or fleeting permanence, permanency - the property of being able to exist for an indefinite duration impermanence, impermanency - the property of not existing for indefinitely long durations

duration

noun length, time, period, term, stretch, extent, spell, span the duration of the trial

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

duration

noun

1. Uninterrupted existence or succession:

continuance, continuation, continuity, continuum, endurance, persistence, persistency.

2. A limited or specific period of time during which something happens, lasts, or extends:

span, stretch, term, time.

3. The period during which someone or something exists:

day (often used in plural), existence, life, lifetime, span, term.

Translations

مُدَّةمُدَّه، دَوام

trvání

varighed

kesto

trajanje

tímalengd; sá tími sem e-î stendur yfir

durata

持続期間

기간

trukmė

ilgumstik ilgi, kamēruz laiku

duur

så lenge noe varer tidslengde varighet

czas trwania

duração

длительность

varaktighet

ช่วงเวลา

süre

khoảng thời gian

持续持续时间

duration

[djʊəˈreɪʃən] N → duración f
courses are of two years' duration → los cursos tienen una duración de dos años
for the duration of the war → mientras dure la guerra

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

duration

[djʊˈreɪʃ^ən] n → durée f
for the duration of the holiday → pendant la durée des vacances, pour la durée des vacances
of 8 months' duration → d'une durée de 8 mois
for the duration (= for the whole time) → jusqu'à la fin

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

duration

n (of play, war etc) → Länge f, → Dauer f; for the duration of → für die Dauer (+gen), → während (+gen); of long/short duration → von langer/kurzer Dauer; after a struggle of six years’ duration → nach sechsjährigem Kampf; he joined up for the duration → er hat sich bis zum Ende verpflichtet; it looks as though we are here for the duration (inf) → es sieht so aus, als ob wir bis zum Ende hier sind

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

duration

[djʊ/əˈreɪʃ/ən] n → durata
of 6 years' duration → della durata di 6 anni

duration

(djuˈreiʃən) noun

the length of time anything continues. We all had to stay indoors for the duration of the storm.

duration

→ مُدَّة trvání varighed Dauer διάρκεια duración kesto durée trajanje durata 持続期間 기간 duur varighet czas trwania duração длительность varaktighet ช่วงเวลา süre khoảng thời gian 持续

du·ra·tion

n. duración, continuación.

duration

n duración f

References in classic literature ?

I am inclined to think that treble the duration in office, with the condition of a total dissolution of the body at the same time, might be less formidable to liberty than one third of that duration subject to gradual and successive alterations.

View in context

For the hereditary prince has less cause and less necessity to offend; hence it happens that he will be more loved; and unless extraordinary vices cause him to be hated, it is reasonable to expect that his subjects will be naturally well disposed towards him; and in the antiquity and duration of his rule the memories and motives that make for change are lost, for one change always leaves the toothing for another.

View in context

Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained.

View in context

Not that it suffices to study the Principles of Geology, or to read special treatises by different observers on separate formations, and to mark how each author attempts to give an inadequate idea of the duration of each formation or even each stratum.

View in context

The genius of republican liberty seems to demand on one side, not only that all power should be derived from the people, but that those intrusted with it should be kept in independence on the people, by a short duration of their appointments; and that even during this short period the trust should be placed not in a few, but a number of hands.

View in context

And compared to the duration of life it did not seem to him slower than an awakening from sleep compared to the duration of a dream.

View in context

They were in hopes now, but their hope was of but short duration, and at night again thick clouds hid the starry vault from all eyes.

View in context

The character and duration of this enthusiasm varies with the state of the individual, from an ecstasy and trance and prophetic inspiration,--which is its rarer appearance,--to the faintest glow of virtuous emotion, in which form it warms, like our household fires, all the families and associations of men, and makes society possible.

View in context

By agreement, the conversation in Roxy's presence was all about the man's "up-country" farm, and how pleasant a place it was, and how happy the slaves were there; so poor Roxy was entirely deceived; and easily, for she was not dreaming that her own son could be guilty of treason to a mother who, in voluntarily going into slavery--slavery of any kind, mild or severe, or of any duration, brief or long--was making a sacrifice for him compared with which death would have been a poor and commonplace one.

View in context

The battle, or rather carnage, was of short duration. Under the skillful generalship of the Circles almost every Woman's charge was fatal and very many extracted their sting uninjured, ready for a second slaughter.

View in context

Indeed an oligarchy and a tyranny are of all governments of the shortest duration. The tyranny of Orthagoras and his family at Sicyon, it is true, continued longer than any other: the reason for which was, that they used their power with moderation, and were in many particulars obedient to the laws; and, as Clisthenes was an able general, he never fell into contempt, and by the care he took that in many particulars his government should be popular.

View in context

Two lessons, which would scarcely be called lessons, since both of them occurred within five minutes and each was not over half a minute in duration, sufficed to teach Michael that only on the floor of the room in the corner nearest the door could he chew chicken bones.